Church's Texas Chicken landed two simultaneous top-category wins in the USA TODAY 10Best Readers' Choice Awards, with its Honey-Butter Biscuit™ earning the No. 1 ranking in the Best Fast Food Side category and its signature fried chicken placing No. 2 in Best Fast Food Fried Chicken nationally.
The dual recognition puts Church's in rare company: the brand is one of only a handful of QSR chains to place in the top tier across multiple award categories in the same cycle. For operators and brand strategists tracking menu differentiation, the result underscores how a single iconic side item can function as a primary brand driver rather than a supporting element.
Why Sides Now Lead
The Honey-Butter Biscuit's top-ranked finish reflects a broader shift in how quick-service guests evaluate restaurant visits. Side dishes and bread items have become increasingly decisive in driving QSR brand loyalty and repeat traffic, particularly as chicken-focused concepts compete on more than protein quality alone. A craveable, proprietary side creates a halo effect that can elevate the entire menu perception — a dynamic Church's has now had independently validated by a national consumer vote.
Competitive Implications
For multi-unit operators and franchise development executives watching the chicken segment, back-to-back placements in distinct award categories signal menu cohesion that resonates at scale. Church's fried chicken ranking second nationally in its core category — despite competing against deeply entrenched players — reinforces the brand's positioning as a credible challenger in an intensely crowded fried chicken and fast-casual competitive landscape. The awards were determined by USA TODAY 10Best Readers' Choice voting, giving the results a consumer-driven legitimacy that differs from critic-judged or industry-panel rankings.
The wins also arrive at a moment when chicken-centric QSR concepts are drawing significant franchisee and investor interest. Operators evaluating brand partnerships or expansion opportunities in the segment will likely weigh consumer-sentiment signals like these alongside unit-economics data. Church's, headquartered in Atlanta, operates across the United States and internationally under its Texas Chicken banner in markets outside North America.
For ongoing coverage of menu strategy and QSR brand performance, Food & Beverage Magazine tracks product innovation and consumer trends across the foodservice industry.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
